What Is Required To Become An Imam?

This is a question that I have been really puzzling over in the last few years and much more so since the situation with Ali Hindy came to light. Consider the following excerpts from an article written by Mohammed Adam:

Mr. Hindy left Egypt for Canada 30 years ago and went on to enjoy a successful career here as an engineer…. Mr. Hindy’s life is a story of contradictions. When he lived in Egypt, a country of committed Muslims, Mr. Hindy was not overly religious; only when he came to Canada, a secularized western country, did he embrace fundamentalism. He never received the kind of formal religious training in the Muslim tradition that many other imams receive, yet he sees himself a defender of traditional Islam…. He still works as an engineering consultant part-time. He works at the mosque on Fridays and Sundays.

Aly Hindy came to Canada in 1975 with a degree in engineering from Cairo’s Ain Shams University. He prayed five times a day like other ordinary Muslims, but was not deeply religious. He was clean-shaven back then.

He enrolled at the University of Western Ontario and by 1979, four years after his arrival, completed both his masters and doctorate degrees in structural engineering.

Mr. Hindy got involved with Salaheddin “by chance.” The centre was set up in 1994 by an Egyptian immigrant and his two Iraqi friends. One or both of the Iraqis may have been Kurds, hence the name of the centre, Salaheddin, after the famed Kurdish Muslim general known in the West as Saladin, the man who defeated the Crusaders and won back Jerusalem in the Second Crusade.

In 1996, the centre, which was looking for a home, sought to buy a building on Eglinton and Kennedy. The Egyptian, who had then fallen out with his partners, asked Mr. Hindy for financial help. The centre had about $25,000, but the building was going for $600,000. Mr. Hindy said his friend arranged to pay for the building through monthly payments and asked him not only to be the guarantor, but for help with the deposit.

A little over a year later, the Egyptian died suddenly, leaving a surprised Mr. Hindy in charge. Faced with the unexpected responsibility, he embarked on self-education, reading voraciously to build on the foundation he already had. He attended international seminars on Islamic jurisprudence and traditions given by well-respected scholars, and studied one-on-one with others.

Today Mr. Hindy performs all the jobs of an imam — from delivering sermons and officiating at marriages and funerals, to offering counsel and making rulings according to Islamic law.

“I didn’t get formal training, but I feel I have good knowledge. If I don’t know anything, people will find out. You can’t deceive people all the time,” he said. 

“If somebody says I am not qualified, I’ll say ‘if I am not qualified, I can give you a list of a lot of people who are not qualified.”

Mr. Hindy’s lack of formal training is no impediment to being an imam. Islam has no formal process of ordaining imams and there are many examples of people who studied outside the formal structures, but became respected scholars.

Obviously, the imam has to possess some knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence in order to answer questions properly and adjudicate matters correctly. But in the end, it all comes down to community acceptance.

“If he gains recognition from the people he is serving as learned and religious-oriented, he can be imam,” says the Ottawa Mosque’s imam Gamal Solaiman.

Tarek Fatah, a Toronto television host and founding member of the secular Muslim Canadian Congress, says Mr. Hindy is not the kind of leader Canadian Muslims want or need. He says Mr. Hindy is “medieval” and quite out of touch with the 21st century. “His view of Islam is completely different from mine. It is narrow and he can’t even get along with other imams,” Mr. Fatah said.

This issue is not just about Ali Hindy. It is about the fact that ISlam has no clearly deisgnated formal hieracrchy (which in many ways is very appealing) of a “priesthood” who are divinely guided, and yet, Muslims allow their religious leaders and the “scholars” dictate so much of what they do without really investigating things for themselves.

I have been one of those people, too, in a sense. I cannot read classical Arabic and so I read a translation of the Quran. It seems pretty straightforward to me but even that translation is provided with Tafsir — which is supposed to explain the true meaning of the Word. Now if I read the translation and believe its message is one thing but the tafsir states another, then my opinion is considered invalid because I do not understand the Classical Arabic. This provides the argument for why only a so-called scholar can really understand Islam and interpret it for everyone else. Then throw in the so-called “Science of Hadith” (the chain of transmission) and compare that with what we understand as empirical scientific evidence and you have the potential for one massive misunderstanding of God’s Word. I think this is the greatest dilemma many Muslims have facing them — one I share.

Let Me Tell You About My Little Sisters And Brothers

When I first came to Qatar in 1999 I met a young student (Fatma) who was to be my student the following year. Fatma is Palestinian and she soon took me home to meet her entire family. This consists of her father (who soon became my “Baba”), her mother Monira; two brothers (Abdullah and Ahmed); and 5 sisters (From oldest to youngest: Hend, Noura, Sara, Mona, and Maha). Mind you this was 9 years ago, so I have watched this beautiful family grow and blossom — while I was nurtured as one of them.

Both Baba and Monira are from Gaza, and if I told you the story of all that has happened to them growing up in the wake of the establishment of Israel it would break your heart. But this is not a sad story, because Baba and Monira are testaments to the resilient human spirit and all the best qualities of humanity. They both got their university education — Baba in Alexandria and Monira her at Qatar University while she was juggling caring for her young children. Baba and Monira then began their careers teaching here in Doha and passed their love and respect for education to their children.

Hind led the way in being the first to attend the first university here in Qatar Foundation’s Education City. She graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design and after working as a Designer on several important projects and an international Design firm, she was accepted into a Master’s Program in the UK. She received her Master’s about a year ago and immediately began working on her PhD (also in the UK). She has returned to my uni (her alma mater) this summer — now as FACULTY — and will be teaching her first class! I met Hend when she was a sophomore in uni and now she is my colleague! Maash’Allah!

Fatma also graduated from my uni with a BFA in Motion Graphic Design. She studied animation in London for one semester and returned to Doha to work as a Designer for the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Since then she has been been employed by the Design firm that is a subsidiary at the university. Their biggest project is handling the enormous task of redesigning all the Qatar military, security and police uniforms and insignia. She has been accepted into graduate school in London where she will be pursuing a Masters degree in film making. Fatoom is like a younger version of myself and it drives me crazy sometimes but I love that girl! She’s smart and stubborn and wise beyond her years. Maash’Allah!

Noura has just graduated with Honors from Carnegie-Mellon University in Education City with a BSc in Computer Science. Tonight she is heading to Pittsburgh where she will represent her graduating class at commencement. Noura’s job prospects are excellent and she hopes to get some work experience under her belt before she applies to graduate schools. When I talk with Noura I feel like such a dummy. Tonight she was telling me about a paper she’s submitting to a conference in Cyprus! Maash’Allah!

Sara has just finished her junior year at my university where she is double majoring in Fashion Design and Graphic Design. Sara is a thinker. Sara communicates through design but is often shy about expressing herself verbally. Recently we have had the chance to grow closer as she faced some adversity and I am seeing her get more comfortable with expressing herself verbally. Sara was born premature and was a teeny-tiny baby (only about 2 pounds). She had an incredible strength and will to survive and I see that in her determination now. Sara is like the tiny mouse that roars — Maash’Allah!

Tomorrow afternoon, Mona will be interviewing at Northwestern University’s new branch campus here at Education City. Mona is the “Great Communicator”! She has a smile that could provide the energy for all of Qatar and is interested in a career in journalism or broadcasting. I can really see her in broadcasting — but I’ll let her decide! Mona studied English for one year in the UK after high school and is one of those people who can really help to bridge the culture gap between East and West.  I think Northwestern would be lucky to have her. Maash’Allah!

Little Maha was just a very young girl when I met her. She has infinite patience as you can imagine how often everyone in the family asks her to get things or do things for them. I was the youngest in my family, too, so I remember how it was to be the one everyone called for to do chores and errands. The difference is that I did it grudgingly, but Maha always does it graciously. Here was this quiet young girl running to bring me anything I might want and all the while she was growing up and becoming smarter and smarter! Maha entered a high school that focuses on the sciences — in English — when she spoke very little English (except “Hi, how are you?”). Where did the time go? I don’t know, but Maha is finishing high school and hopes to study medicine at Cornell here at Education City. Finally, a DOCTOR in the family, insha’Allah! Maash’Allah!

Abdullah was a young man when I met him. He was working in a family business which seemed natural upon his graduation from high school here. When he graduated the only university was Qatar University and he didn’t really have a specific career interest. A few years ago he surprised me when he told me he was applying to the Aeronautical University here and wanted to become a pilot! Sure enough, he overcame all the hurdles — English and returning to school after a long gap as an adult — to become the top student in his class. In another 2 years I expect to board a plane with Abdullah in the cockpit! Maash’Allah!

Now Ahmed is my youngest brother. When Ahmed was little he made me laugh SOOOO much! He can do impersonations of everyone — and my own is so embarassing but on the money! Ahmed has a great love of horses and is magical with them but we knew his chances of becoming a world class jockey were limited when this little boy grew up to be about 6′5″ and 275 pounds!!! He is quite the handsome young man; my granddaughter Olivia loves to sit on his shoulders! Ahmed will finish high school this year, insha’Allah, and is looking into aviation for a career as well. I worry that he will be so handsome in a pilot’s uniform we will have to fight the girls off with a baseball bat! Ahmed can still make me laugh like no one else and for all his manliness he is still my sweet little brother. Maash’Allah!

Can you imagine how rich my life became when I met this family and they opened their home and hearts to me? Truly, God has blessed me by bringing this family into my life. I love them more than I can ever express.

 

 

Who Will Educate The Children?

Last night I was screening a number of films I am considering using in my upcoming class about filmmaking in the “non-Western” world. All of them dealt with the theme of education — in either Iran or Afghanistan. And each film showed me how far behind this part of the Muslim world — and MOST of the Muslim world — in in terms of development and the educational qualities required to become a knowledge or technology based society. In fact, these countries are not even able to sustain their own people through an agriculturally based society.

 

The films I watched were Samira Makhmalbaf’s The Apple (which she directed at the age of 17!) which is based on the true story of an Irani family in which the blind mother and father locked their twin daughters in their house from the ages of 2-13, never teaching them how to bathe themselves, talk or even walk properly. Their imprisonment stunted their development to the point of retardation until the neighbors called social services in Tehran. The girls eventually were adopted and are now progressing developmentally and intellectually.

After that I watched The Beauty Academy of Kabul, which is a documentary about a group of Americans (including some who fled Afghanistan in the 70s) who went to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban to offer a training program for female entrepreneurs in the beauty industry. It’s an interesting film, documenting the first class of women to attend and graduate, giving a nice historical overview of Afghanistan since the 1970s. The film is a testimony to the strength of the female spirit.

My favorite of the films I watched last night was Afghan Alphabet by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a rather short documentary (45 minutes) about the impact of the Taliban mentality on several generations of Afghanis (in this case, illegally living in Iran close to the border). With nothing but his digital camera Makhmalbaf shows us that the basis of an engrossing film is the story. This one is fascinating and challenges the reliance on memorization in Muslim societies that subverts the ability to be able to think critically. Children don’t know how to articulate who/what God is and a little girl – probably no older than 10 – refuses to uncover her face to take part in a school lesson because she says it is a great sin. She narrates a story by Mullah Omar about how the Prophet (saw) had a large box he locked his wife in and she never went out; but when he wanted to he could open the box and smell her before locking her away again.

 

When this precious child is sent from the classroom because she will not unveil and participate in the lesson (which is about how to spell “water” and wash one’s face), her empathetic friend leaves the classroom and tries to talk her into coming back inside and following the teacher’s instructions. She tries to ease her mind by telling her that she can repent to God for showing her face and pray 10 rakats, but her friend will not hear of it. Eventually though, after much whispering and turning their backs to the camera, the friend (smaller and probably younger) shows her how to wash her face and takes her back into the classroom. The final shot is memorable:

Each of these films raise profound questions about Islam and education in the 21st Century.

 

 

This Is Why I Love My Work

Four of the young people on this video have been in classes with me:

  

In Honor Of Women’s History Month: The Contribution of Women Artists

I was invited to give the keynote address for a Women’s History Month program and I have included some excerpts of my talk entitled “Against All Odds: African American Women Artists Making History” for your educational enlightenment :

The development of an American female identity is often associated with social, political, economic and even physical struggle. The same thing can be said for the development of an African-American identity. In this regard, emancipation should be seen as a process by which practices, laws and public opinion gradually reshape the dominant culture. Art can play a vital role in reshaping culture, and thus social and political change.

The emergence of heroic African American figures that gained widespread attention first appears in the 19th century associated with the Abolitionist movements. Although they were working in concert with White abolitionists, many Black leaders urged their fellow men and women to help themselves to freedom. For example, Harriet Tubman engineered a network of safe houses, raised necessary funding and developed a system of communication to help those escaping slavery make the arduous journey towards the freedom that Northern states promised. Sojourner Truth was born a slave and became a prominent an American Abolitionist and women’s rights activist born who in 1851 challenged the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention with her eloquent and heartfelt speech entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” What is consistent in these examples and many others is that African-Americans and especially women lead their own struggle, as opposed to waiting for the beneficence of others. 

 

In 1865 Mary Edmonia Lewis left for Italy, visiting Florence first and then settling in Rome to continue her studies where she was influenced by Greco-Roman sculpture. As was typical of artists during that period she modeled her work first out of clay or plaster in a small size. At that point most artists consigned the carving of larger scaled figures in marble to one of the ateliers that employed skilled stone carvers. Lewis, however, carved her work herself in order to prove her skill and to insure that there would be no doubt about her talent.

Forever Free(ca. 1867) was Lewis’ monument to the Emancipation Proclamation. It commemorates the ratification of the 13th Ammendment abolishing slavery. Lewis shows the now freed African American man raising his fist to the heavens after breaking free of the chains of slavery that bound him. Kneeling by his side is his female counterpart who clasps her hands as if praying and raises her eyes to heaven.

The Death Of Cleopatra (ca. 1875-76) won a distinguished prize at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. However, Lewis herself could not enter the exhibition hall to collect the prize due to her race. Lewis was one of the first Afican American artists to employ themes of Egypt as symbolic of Africa and a pan-African identity.

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller showed artistic promise while attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and like many artists in her time decided to study in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. There she gained the rcognition and encouragement of Auguste Rodin and had works selected to exhibit in the Salons at the Louvre in 1904 and 1905.

Ethiopia Awakening(ca. 1914) is often viewed as an inspiration for the artists of Harlem Renaissance. It was commissioned by the NAACP for the first “America’s Making” Exhibition. Fuller conceived of the figure as a female mummy who is coming unbound from her stifling wrappings. She is wearing the headdress of an Egyptian pharoah as a symbol of her power, which is equivalent to that of any man.

Mary Turner, Silent Protest Against An Angry Mob (ca. 1917-1919) reveals the expressive handling of sculpture reminicent of Rodin’s later work. The subject was ripped from the ghastly headlines of lynchings and attacks on African Americans. Mary Turner’s husband had been lynched and when Turner threatened to call the Federal authorities an angry mob descended upon her. They dragged the pregnant Turner into the woods; hung her upside down; soaked her in gasoline and then set her on fire. While she burned to death, someone decided to cut her unborn baby from her womb and then stomp its life out on the ground. This is just one of a multitude of horror stories in the struggle for civil rights, but it’s one that Fuller did justice to in the exquisite sculpture. She has captured the sense of the expectant mother trying to protect her unborn child from the mob violence by sheltering her womb with her arms folded over her belly.

Augusta Fells Savage wouldn’t have had a career as an artist if her father had had anything to say about it. He was a Methodist minister who thought her modeling of small figures was pagan — taking Biblical verses about graven images to heart. But after winning a prize at a Florida State Fair she was encouraged and able to save money to head to Harlem where she felt she could get the artistic training and encouragement she needed.

After taking free classes at Cooper Union she applied for a scholarship to attend a summer program in France. Once the French government realized they had accepted an African American student, they expressed concern that the other students wouldn’t accept her and rescinded the offer. Savage didn’t go down without a fight and made the case public — creating something of an international incident — but the French government would not relent.

She continued to work hard and in 1929 her efforts paid off when Gamin, a sculpture of her nephew won her a Rosenwald Fellowship. She left for Paris that same year and studied there for about four years. By the time Savage returned to the States the Depression was in full swing. However, so was the WPA (Works Progress Administration) that provided work for artists in FAPs (Federal Arts Project). Savage secured several commissions and became the director of the Harlem Community Art Center as a result.

In 1939, Savage exhibited The Harp at the World’s Fair in New York. Based on the NAACP National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson, and his brother Rosamund, Savage’s harp is comprised of figures from an African American choir who open their mouths wide in joyful song.

Elizabeth Catlett received her Bachelor’s degree in printmaking at Howard University and her MFA in sculpture at the University of Iowa, where she studied with Grant Wood (the noted American Regionlist painter). Wood taught all his students to make work about what they knew; so for Catlett (the daughter of two school teachers) that meant subjects from African American History and specifically African American women.

 

In 1946, Catlett won a Rosenwald Fellowship which allowed her to study printmaking at the People’s Graphic Art Workshop in Mexico City. There she met Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siquieros who impressed upon her the role that art could play in shaping political and social change. She produced a series of 12 lithographs entitled “I Am The Black Woman” from which I Am Harriet Tubman, I Helped Hundreds To Freedom is taken.

 

By the 1960s Catlett was engaged in the Black Power movement and returned to sculpture producing Homage To My Young Black Sisters (ca. 1969). This work reflects Catlett’s interest in the Modernist sculptors like Brancusi and Modigliani and exploits the natural beauty of the material (in this case, Rosewood).

The valuable lesson learned from the history of African American women artists is that this very struggle in a world which didn’t encourage women of color, instilled incredible determination and a sense of purpose, and resulted is a rich artistic tradition that has received world acclaim. It only seems fitting to close with one of my favorite works by Elizabeth Catlett: There Is A Woman In Every Color (1974/2004)

Happy Women’s History Month!

I Hate To Always Be The Bearer Of Bad News But….

What the hell is wrong with people in the Magic Kingdom, the sacred center of Islam? From Saudi’s Arab News:

Abha School Guard Faces Relocation for ‘Molesting Girl’ By Hayat Al-Ghamdi

ABHA, 13 December 2007 — A source in the Education Department in this southwestern city told Arab News yesterday that an elderly man working at a Qur’an school accused of sexually harassing an 11-year-old girl is going to be relocated — along with an alleged accomplice — to another job within the public school system. It is not clear if this relocation means the men accused by the girl of lechery will continue to have contact with children. “This is an encouraging message to perverts,” said local social worker Haila Al-Qahtani.

The education official, who did not want to be named, and Qahtani both say that the girl has accused the man of molestation, but that her father — fearing public scrutiny — has declined to press charges and has agreed to have the two accused men moved to another job off the school’s grounds. The man, who is reportedly 80 years old, lived on the school grounds along with his wife, who is not implicated in any wrongdoing. (It’s customary in the Kingdom for schools to have caretakers that live on the school grounds in modest quarters.)

According to the education official, the girl has accused the man of luring her into his quarters with the help of an accomplice, a school guard, where he would grope and kiss her. The girl did not accuse the man of rape.

“The girl’s beauty might be what caused the caretaker to lure her (into his quarters),” the education source told Arab News. “Since there has been no concrete evidence, the father of the girl was satisfied with the administrative decision to move the two men to another location.”

Arab News learned that the girl’s mother is dead.

Qahtani said the punishment was not sufficient and would not prevent any future harassment. She said the men should at least be fired, if not investigated and imprisoned. The father’s unwillingness to pursue an investigation and possible molestation charges reflects a larger social problem, says Qahtani. “These type of reactions … restrict our efforts as social workers,” she said.

Col. Abdullah Al-Gharni, Asir police spokesman, said that authorities have not received any complaints from the father or education officials. He did confirm that the school has sent some kind of document — possibly an incident report — related to the case to the regional head of girl’s education, Ali Al-Musa. It was from there that the order to relocate the caretaker and his colleague to another undisclosed location within the local education system. The case is reportedly in the hands of Asir Gov. Prince Faisal ibn Khaled for further review.

Now I am not saying the man is guilty but what is with the school official citing the girl’s beauty as the cause of a possible molestation? There are such deep psychological disturbances in Saudi society I hold little hope for any significant reformation. Really pathetic.

Is This Really Too Much To Bear?

By Rob Crilly in Khartoum (Times Online):

It began with one student and an Arabic newspaper. He raised the front page, which carried a blurred, pixellated photograph of Gillian Gibbons, above his head and launched his tirade.

“In the name of Allah the most compassionate and merciful,” he shouted, “we invite all people in the world to take Islam and we need from our Government to dismiss this teacher from Sudan.” One by one members of the crowd at the Khartoum University campus began to join in, each in turn picking up the paper and shouting abuse.

If officials at the British Embassy and in the Sudanese Government had hoped that they could keep a lid on the public discontent and do a private deal to get Ms Gibbons home to Liverpool, their strategy seemed in peril.

With little public interest in the English primary school teacher and the teddy bear she had named Mohamed, Ms Gibbons’s colleagues had hoped that the matter would never reach court and that she might be freed without a fuss. Yesterday, however, Sudanese newspapers, radio and television woke to her story and Ms Gibbons was charged laster with insulting Islam.

In a fiery editorial, the pro-Government Akhir Lahza (Last Moment) newspaper demanded that one of Osama bin Laden’s associates give evidence at her trial. It said that Hassan al-Turabi, once seen as the Islamic brain behind the Government and the man who invited bin Laden to live in Sudan’s desert capital during the 1990s, should be called as an expert witness.

As the rhetoric was ratcheted up, fears rose of mass demonstrations against Ms Gibbons after Friday prayers. Members of a moderate Sufi sect spent the day leafleting Khartoum’s Arab market in front of the city’s Great Mosque, urging the faithful to protest.

“What has been done by this infidel lady is considered a matter of contempt and an insult to Muslims’ feelings and also the pollution of children’s mentality as an attempt to wipe their identity,” the leaflet said. It called on a million people to take to the streets after prayers tomorrow.

Ms Gibbons, a former deputy head teacher from Liverpool, spent yesterday locked in a cell at a police station in a suburb of Khartoum. Her toilet is a hole in the ground; her window a small, barred opening high in the wall. She looked tired and pale as she was escorted across the courtyard with a blanket across her shoulders to meet British consular officials.

Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at Unity High School, an exclusive British-run school favoured by the Sudanese elite.

Colleagues insist that she was guilty only of an innocent mistake after allowing her class of six and seven-year-olds to name the class teddy bear Mohamed. They say that the toy was named after one of the most popular pupils, not Islam’s most revered prophet.

Professor Eltyeb Hag Ateya, the director of the Khartoum University Peace Research Institute, said that the notion of naming a bear was alien to most Sudanese.

“People are angry because the bear does not exist in Sudanese folklore,” he said. “It is not seen as a nice thing that children carry around. If you call someone a bear they will be angry, just as if you have called someone a camel in England.”

Ms Gibbon’s plight moves to Khartoum’s courts today when she is due to appear before a judge who will decide whether there is a case to answer. As the demonstration on the campus wound down, a group of young men huddled over a sheet of paper drafting an angry statement on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Elsheikh El Nour, a veterinary scientist, summed up their position. “If she made an innocent mistake and did not mean Muhammad the Prophet there is no problem,” he said, sipping sweet tea in the shade of a guava tree. But if she meant Muhammad the Prophet, this is a big problem for Muslims. She must die.”

Now let’s not worry about genocide and mass rapes in Darfur when their is a plush toy crises begging for our attention. Hmmmm…..I’m thinking this is the real problem:

Sheesh! You don’t see Art Historians screaming for blood over this sacrilege:

A fellow Muslim brought up an interesting point today. Here’s the scenario:

So many guys are names Mohammad after the Prophet (saw). Some of them are pure idiots and make trouble for their teachers. Can’t you just hear it now?

“Mohammed! Why are you acting like such a fool? You had better sit your ass down before I smack you!”

And then the teacher is beheaded for blasphemy.

LOL! Just kidding!

But my point is that if we know that there is no intentional harm meant (and even if there was an attempt to insult), why must Muslims react so extremely and go for the harshest punishment? Wake up Muslims!

What I Love Most About Qatar

I just finished teaching summer school which is why I haven’t been around for the past month. But recently I was on a forum where people were discussing what they love about Qatar. I get tired of the constant complaints and whining litany of many Western ex-pats who can’t let go of their smug sense of superiority when they come to work here. So I found it interesting to read some of the positive things those same whiners had to say about Qatar, and then I added my own thoughts:

What Do I Love About Qatar? The Students

And today I was reminded why. After teaching three accelerated lecture courses in a four week summer session (12 hour days/5 days per week for 4 weeks), I would normally be exhausted and hating everyone. But today I finished doing just that and instead I am newly in love with Qatar.

I have the sweetest, funniest, kindest and most hardworking students in the world. They come from VCUQ, TAMUQ, CMUQ, Cornell and Georgetown and they truly represent what is great about this country. They made me feel that each day was worthwhile and something to look forward to. They patiently absorbed the incredible amount of diverse information I threw at them everyday; received their assessments with humor and maturity; took personal responsibility for their own shortcomings; engaged me in discussions about every subject under the sun; shared their hopes and dreams; and entertained me with their tales of friends and activities. They made me feel like I have gained 47 new sons and daughters.

And today, when it all came to an end, they took the time and effort to say thank you and show me their appreciation for my efforts.

This is why I love Qatar — and I don’t know any other place on earth like it.

Salaam Alaikum,
PM

Lessons To Be Learned From The Tragedy At Virginia Tech

1. The US desperately needs to enact gun control laws and especially in terms of handguns. The state of Virginia (my home state) is particularly noted for its lenient gun laws — while the metropolitan areas of Richmond. Norfolk and the District of Columbia, are noted for their high rates of violent crime. Consider this:

• There is a one-handgun-per-month limit on sales, but no state license or permit is required to buy a handgun.
• There are no state limits on assault weapons and magazines. An AK47 is as easy to buy as a hunting rifle.
• No background check is required for gun purchases at gun shows, swap meets, or through newspaper or Internet ads. A check is required at federally licensed gun stores.
• There’s no state requirement that gun owners register their firearms, making it harder for police to track gun traffickers and guns used in crimes.
• State law forbids city or county governments from enacting their own tougher gun laws.

2. Every institution needs to re-evaluate its emergency response preparedness and evacuation plans. Upon the report of the first shooting, police followed a bad lead in search of the first victim’s boyfriend which focused their search away from the campus. Furthermore, the campus police did not call in the State Police until after the second shootings because they wrongly assumed they were dealing with a singular domestic incident. For a timeline of events, go here.

3. People suffering from psychological and social disorders are usually easily identified and it is incumbent upon all of us to make sure they get the help they need, or at the very least are prevented from being able to harm others. Cho’s refusal to speak to others and solitary lifestyle were apparently clearly noted by everyone who knew him. He went so far as to refuse to give his name out on a class sign-up sheet and instead entered a question mark. Some sources say that Cho was diagnosed with depression and medication had been prescribed, but even his teachers who were fearful and alarmed by his violent writings, were unable to insure that Cho got the psychiatric treatment he needed. Services were offered – even strongly encouraged — but no one could make him take advantage of them. It really appears that all the signs were there, but the American system with all its personal liberties did not have the mechanism to take any actions that might have prevented this tragedy.

4. Universities need to have the right to consult with and inform parents of their children’s performance and behavior. Currently, American laws in education prohibit universities from contacting parents without the student’s express permission. Had the parents been brought into the matter, they could have had him legally committed to a psychiatric hospital. Instead, the family is in hiding and by all accounts suffering from great culturally defined shame and 33 people are dead.

5. Violence and terrorism know no race, class, religion or ethnicity.

Questioning Gender Segregation In The Middle East

Ever since I arrived in Doha to teach at a university offering degrees only to women, I have been questioning this policy. Originally when my uni was established, the idea was to provide a quality American university education to females since they rarely were allowed to travel abroad to obtain it. With the development of Education City (which hosts five American university branch campuses), all other ventures have been co-educational and starting this coming fall semester my uni will admit male students, as well.

I have been an advocate for co-education ever since arriving in Qatar. The more I see how ill-equipped many young men and women are to deal with each other in an appropriate and respectful manner, as they work side by side for the benefit of their society, the more convinced I am that co-education is fundamental to that goal. Co-education can exist within the framework of Islamic values as long as there is ample supervision and support for instilling the fundamentals of Islam in the home from childhood onward. Apparently, Westerners are not the only ones questioning the value of co-education here. According to today’s Gulf Times, this was one of the topics on the agenda at the “National Consultations on Strategy for Youth in Qatar”:

SINGLE-SEX education, high rates of spinsterhood and divorce, the role of civil society and the lack of enthusiasm for political participation among Qatari youth were brought into the spotlight yesterday at the launch of ‘National Consultations on Strategy for Youth in Qatar’. Dr Kolthum Ali al-Ghanem, a Qatar University professor, called for establishing new channels through which youth can contribute to political life in their country.

“Our society is still tribal-oriented and when it comes to vote or contest election, citizens do that mainly to have a place reserved for their tribe in the elected body. There is an urgent need for political awareness among young people through which feeling of citizenship can be deepened,” she said, adding that youth so far have no independent students union. Dr al-Ghanem called for empowering the civil society in a way that makes it more effective in the decision making process.

Hassan al-Jifairi, a social activist, called for introducing the co-education system. “Separation between males and females in schools creates situations that lead to abnormal behaviours. We should support mingling between males and females as long as this takes place under the supervision of educational institutions,” he said, while observing that all the government departments have both male and female employees working together. “Studies have showed that abnormal sexual orientation is generally linked to the places where only one sex is predominant like military camps and jails,” he noted.

Mousa Zinail, an official at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage(NCCAH), also called for ending the present single education system while blaming it for the high rates of spinsterhood and divorces among young people. “We make a mistake when we think of divorce and spinsterhood problems in terms of exorbitant dowries. I feel the core reason behind such problems is the fact that our youth grow up in an unhealthy uni-sex atmosphere,” he said.

Of course there is some resistance which is usually couched in terms of dredging up the “evil Western ideology” which is promoted as the antithesis to all things Muslim:

However, Dr Wadha al-Attiyah, an official at the National Office for Combating Human Trafficking, said recent studies had showed that co-education had caused serious problems where it was applied. “There are several voices both in the US and the UK calling for shifting to the single-sex education again. Some secondary schools in the West have mother students,” she said.“Should we make the same mistake which the West seeks to correct by putting an end to the mingling between males and females in schools,” she reasoned.

So my question is this: Is it possible to identify some elements of Western society that have proven to have beneficial aspects and combine them with good Islamic values, in order to have the best of both worlds?